My exhaust came in today. See the JISU thread for many, many pics.

After I did my write-up, I painted the connecting pipe and clamp red.

I also got encouraged and stuck some decals on my tank. I think my Reb decal is sliiiightly off center, but that's OK. I thought I had more decals than I do ... I feel like the tank needs a little something else up toward the nose. I have to stop by CycleGear today anyway, so I'll see what they have.

Stomp Grips are going on the side, and I have a tank protector that's going near the rear, so a lot of that white space will get eaten up. Well, the stompgrips are clear, so the white will still be there, but (1) I don't think I want -that- many decals on my bike (although the Playboy bunny decal, largeish, would look good) and (2) I'm counting on my tank to lighten up the bike as a whole a little bit, so the more white the better.

Thoughts?

Pics attached.

 

When I woke up this morning, I had the overwhelming certainty that I painted my exhaust incorrectly yesterday. I put glossy wheel paint on it, which is great except that it's only rated to 250f - not nearly enough for an exhaust.

I stripped my paint off the exhaust I painted yesterday and repainted it today, clearing with the satin clear that's good to 2000f.

I cleared my rear wheel with a can and a half of clear wheel paint. Lookin good so far.

I also put together a couple of pieces; my kickstand and my gauge holder.

Tomorrow I plan to try and work out whatever defects I can in the frame paint, but I don't have any extra paint so I'm going to try to be very careful. There are a couple runs I'll just have to accept.

If the frame doesn't need too much work, I'll put on the forks, clip-ons, and install the new levers. I may get brave and try to fix my throttle cable while the airbox is off. If so, then I'll put the airbox back on afterwards, and probably the headers too.

I have some 800 grit sand paper on order. After that comes in, I'll sand my front wheel. My brakes should be in Friday, and I hope to paint and maybe clear them then. I also ordered one more decal for my tank. After that I'm just waiting for my headlights, and for my paint to dry. This weekend I'll try to reattach as much to the frame / bike as I can. Hopefully next week I can finish everything up, but things need to go -perfectly- for that to happen. Otherwise, the week after.

Things are looking good. The pic is of my painted parts sitting outside baking. I may not have an oven, but I have tin foil and it's 106f outside today.

 

the brake rotors look great! I like red too. I am getting excited to see her together.

 

Me too, Harley. And thanks

I realized this morning I have to go do some court watching stuff for school, so I won't be able to get too much done today. I have all day tomorrow and Saturday, though, so hopefully I can bang out a lot of stuff.

 

I got lots of work done today.

My brakes came yesterday, and I painted them and cleared them today.

Then I got to work putting my bike back together.

The headers went on first. My friend saved me from being really stupid, and I only over-torqued the hell out of the header bolts for a few minutes before I loosened them back up. Hopefully they'll be fine.

The radiator went on next. Then the forks. Then the clip-ons. Then the subframe. Then the plastic tray.

Pics attached, but a full sized taste of things to come below.

 

Hey folks, two quick questions:

How bad do you think it would be to spray some Rustoleum Engine Enamel over the frame? I like the VHT color, and I've tried to be meticulous about not mixing paint at any step, but a little electronic contact cleaner ate right through a spot on my bike, and I'm afraid that since I can't bake it the paint will never cure properly. Even sitting out in the Vegas sun for 12+ hours I can't imagine the frame getting much hotter than 300f. If it never cures, then it'll come off pretty easily, especially if gas hits it.

Also, does anyone know how to put together the passenger footpegs? There's a little ball bearing and a plate that goes somewhere, but I didn't pay enough attention when I took it apart and the microfiche and both manuals are useless. There's only a couple options, I suppose, but I want it to be right.

Thanks!

 

I used Dupli-Color Engine Enamel and though it does say it resists fuel and solvent, that is a lie. I got a tiny drop of gas on the tank and it bubbled up within seconds. I even had a rag handy and wiped it immediately. AFAIK Rust-Oleum is the same as Dupli-Color, so I would suggest you try something else.

 

My tank was painted with engine enamel before and it was good as far as gas resistance went. I didn't soak it or anything, but it certainly got enough on there to run off the sides a few times. The paint didn't even pit. I think it just needs time to cure? That said, I never could sand it down well enough to get all the scratches out, and it get beat up when I installed my tank pretty good.

I'm not so afraid of the paint not working as I am of the two types of paint having an adverse reaction. I just blasted my kickstand with a coating of engine enamel, thinking that it's a small enough piece that if I have to repaint it, it's not a problem. The Rustoleum engine enamel is glossier, so I'd probably lose most of the satin finish to a more glossy black, but that's not terrible. I'll wait to see how it looks when it dries.

 

The paint was over 3 weeks old when I dripped the gas. I waited nearly 2 weeks before I even put the bike back together. The can stated that the paint cures in 7 days. The wheel paint is supposed to stop the gas, I am considering putting a coat of that over the tank.

 

Huh. I was going to use the wheel paint too.

Maybe I'll blast a test something, then drip some gas on it and see how it goes. I rubbed a little on my mesh, since that's been painted for a long time, but it could have been the rubbing that made the paint come off.